Jagged Edge
by Wushu
Summary: //UlrichYumi// //YxU// Ulrich realizes that he will never have the one he loves, so he turns to his only other option.


Title: Jagged Edge  
Rating: T  
Series: Code Lyoko  
Summary: (Ulrich/Yumi) (YxU) Ulrich realizes that he will never have the one he loves, so he turns to his only other option.  
Disclaimer: Code Lyoko and all characters/places are the property of their respective owners. The poem/song is called _There_ and it belongs to me.

**AN:** All the research done for this story came from Wikipedia, including the poem that Ulrich wrote Yumi for Valentine's Day (Episode: _Saint Valentine's Day_), which I also don't own.

* * *

Briiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnggg! 

The alarm woke Ulrich from his fitful sleep; the sound of Odd's snoring reassured him that he truly was awake.

Ulrich Stern, an average boy that never really tried to stand out, yet always did. He was the star player on the soccer team, but all he wanted was to be a normal player, he didn't need or want the attention. His grades were average, if you could even call them that. His brown hair and eyes always seemed to make him popular with the girls, even thought he loathed the attention. All he wanted in life was for someone to care about him; not the athlete, the poor student, the handsome boy, just him, just Ulrich. He wanted his parents to be proud of him for him and not his achievements.

Looking over at Odd he let out a small breath of relief. Everything he had seen had only been a dream, Odd was still alive and that meant to others would be as well.

Odd Della Robbia, his best friend and roommate. Odd was easy to identify among the Kadic Academy students solely by his spiky blond hair with the questionable purple streak in the center. That and the fact that he always wore purple, which truth be told made him look like a grape.

Running his hand over his face, Ulrich tried to shake the remnants of the nightmare, hoping that's all it was and not a premonition.

Rising from his bed he made his way to the bathroom for his morning shower, making sure to give Odd a good kick as he passed by. When he gets back Odd should be at least halfway awake, hopefully.

After spending a good 20 minutes under the warm water, Ulrich returned to the dorm room he shared with Odd only to find the other boy still asleep.

"Odd," he called as he put his towel in the hamper.

"Odd time to get up, you're going to miss breakfast."

As if he were on a spring he was up and out of the bed before Ulrich could even hand him his towel. Last thing he saw of Odd was his back as he ran to the showers.

Ulrich sighed once again as he sat on his bed, his head in his hands.

His silent meditation was broken as a voice called out to him.

"Good morning," it sang from his door.

Looking up he greeted the owner with a small smile.

"Yumi, good morning."

His eyes left her face and traveled down to her feet, taking in her outfit. She wore black jeans and the midriff bearing long-sleeved black shirt that he loved so much. She wore her silky black hair down past her shoulders. Her delicate mouth was pulled into a smile as she watched Ulrich studying her. Yumi Ishiyama was the love of Ulrich's life, even if she didn't know it.

"Uh hem," Yumi clearing her throat brought his attention away from her body and returned it to her face.

"Er..." he said as he was caught, blushing he tuned his face away from her. This of course forced her to start laughing, which drew the attention of Jeremie Belpois as he approached the room. His glasses were sparkling clean and his hair was still wet from when he stuck it under the faucet.

"What's so funny?" he asked as he took in the laughing Yumi and blushing Ulrich.

"Nothing," Ulrich replied as he stood up and ushered the two out.

"Come on move, Odd and I need to get dressed."

"Yeah, we can't have you going to breakfast in your boxers, can we?" Yumi replied with a wink as she and Jeremie watched him blush three shades darker.

"Uh ... er ..." Ulrich was at a loss for words as his face did an impression of a beet, fortunately he was saved by Odd returning and loudly telling the others to leave so he could get dressed and not miss breakfast.

Still laughing at Ulrich's predicament, Jeremie and Yumi moved a few feet down the hall to wait, their conversation turning back to Ulrich.

"So," Jeremie began as he leaned against the wall, arms folded across his chest, "catch him staring again?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?" Yumi asked with a laugh.

"Lucky guess," he replied. He wasn't going to tell her that Ulrich always stared at her with a loving look in his eyes that he quickly shielded when anyone noticed.

"I see," she said in a voice laced with disappointment.

"So," Jeremie said once again, this time trying to fill the silence that followed Yumi's disappointed statement. His mind struggling to find a topic, he latched onto the first thing he could think of. "So, how's your relationship with William going?"

"Its ... good, never been better," she said with a forced smile that Jeremie could see right through. "He's taking me to meet his parents this weekend."

"So you'll be leaving tonight then. They live several hours away don't they?"

"Yeah, he's picking me up at six so we can get there before midnight."

At this point Odd and Ulrich joined them in the hall, the latter hearing the end of the conversation. Almost instantly his smile left his face to be replaced by the permanent frown he had worn since Yumi and William had begun dating back at the end of their sophomore year at Kadic Academy, they were now seniors. Ulrich, Jeremie and Odd were one year behind them.

"Sounds like you're getting serious," Odd commented as he locked their dorm room door. Ulrich merely stuck his hands in his pockets and glued his eyes to the floor. Slowly he walked past Jeremie and Yumi who quickly fell in behind him, Odd making up the rear as he jogged to catch up.

"Yeah, I guess we are," Yumi replied as she turned her gaze to the back of Ulrich's head, her eyes holding a look of pleading and a veiled hope.

"XANA has been awfully quiet lately, hasn't he?" Odd asked to break the silence that returned once again.

"I for one am _not_ complaining," Yumi said with an empathic shake of her head.

For years the four of them have been fighting a Super Computer program turned virus, called XANA. It's goal was to conquer the world and to kill the four of them to prevent their interfering. With the help of Aelita, the virtual guardian of the supercomputer created digital world called Lyoko, they have been thus far successful. As a side, and more personal project, Jeremie has been trying to materialize Aelita into the human world so that he could finally shutdown the supercomputer and XANA. It was commonly know among the Lyoko gang that Jeremie was in love with her; that much was clear from his constant discussion of, and attention to, Aelita. They could also guess that she loved him as much as she could understand the emotional concept of love.

"Nor am I," Jeremie replied, "I just found it strange that he hasn't attacked for almost a month now."

"Ya know, that is kinda weird, even for XANA," Odd added as they began to cross the courtyard to the cafeteria building.

Kadic Academy was a college preparatory High School and was therefore setup like a college campus would be. While it was a normal high school, it was also a boarding school for those that were unable to go home every night. The dorms were located on the southern edge of the campus, while the main classroom buildings took up the north and western portions. The eastern portion was dedicated to administrative and support services, including the library, cafeteria annex, bookstore, and many other services. The campus was lushly adorned with many trees, shrub, bushes and planters full of seasonal flowers.

"You're right Odd, after lunch I'll run a scan to make sure there is no activity on Lyoko." Jeremie said as they approached the cafeteria and the line awaiting entrance.

"Mmm," Odd said as his nose picked up the scent of the bacon and eggs. "Smell that? I want to get some while it's still hot."

With that said he took off like a bolt of purple lightning as he raced to the end of the line, dancing in hopes of making it move faster.

Yumi and Jeremie both tried to stifle their laughing, but they both failed miserably. So having thus failed, they decided to join him before the line got any longer. Taking off at a sprint they quickly passed the depressed Ulrich who made no move to speed up.

Seeing that he wasn't following, Yumi paused to look over her shoulder. As she was turning to go back to Ulrich a hand on her arm stopped her.

"Leave him be, he has to work through his depression himself. Trust me Yumi; you'd just make it worse no matter what you said."

Yumi could only nod at Jeremie as they quickly joined Odd in line.

* * *

Later that day, true to his word, Jeremie began his scan of Lyoko, hoping to not find a single activated tower. 

How he hated finding an activated tower, all that meant was that XANA was going to try another tactic in the real world to kill he and his friends. Their only chance then was to have their bodies and minds digitally implanted into Lyoko. Once there they would protect Aelita from the digital monsters that would try to stop her from deactivating the tower and ending the attack. Once the attack was stopped, all that was left was to rematerialize his friends and depending on whether or not there was damage down to anybody or anything in the real world, initiate the program that would return them all to the past before the attack.

Now were anyone to ask him how fighting on Lyoko or the return to the past worked, he'd be able to give them a description rather than a definite answer. Jeremie had no idea how it worked at the deep down base level, he wasn't the one who created Lyoko; a brilliant man named Franz Hopper did. He couldn't explain it either for he was trapped somewhere on Lyoko by the very program he had created, XANA. Now, if pressed, Jeremie would possibly say that fighting on Lyoko was like a Role Playing video game, for lack of a better analogy. You have a set of skills unique to each person and a set of life points. When attacked and injured; there were only two senses on Lyoko, sight and sound so pain was not a problem, you would lose life points. When you had zero points left you would be re-materialized and returned to Earth, that in a nutshell is materialization on Lyoko. As for the return to the past, only Jeremie and his friends would have any memories due to the avatars that they had on Lyoko, even though Jeremie never went there. The details are sketchy, but somehow the materialization process prevents them from losing their memories.

Sitting back as the scan began to run, Jeremie initiated contact with Lyoko and Aelita. Soon her face appeared on the screen in a small window; behind her machine code ran down like rain.

"Good afternoon Jeremie." She said in her singsong voice. Her heart shaped face was smiling as it always was when she talked to him. Her pink hair swayed gently as she turned her head slightly to watch him.

"Good afternoon Aelita," he said with a mild blush.

"I'm glad you called, I haven't seen our friends in a while. I was getting lonely."

"I'm sorry about that Aelita, but with XANA not attacking they have to actually worry about school since they don't have to repeat the day and learn it all again."

"Then maybe I should help XANA attack so I can have some company," she said with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

"You do that and I'll … I'll…" he was at a loss for words as he couldn't think of a single threat to make against her.

Giving out a melodic laugh, Aelita shook her head to calm him down.

"Don't worry Jeremie, I was only kidding."

"Well don't do that, you almost gave me a heart attack," he replied as he clutched his hand to his heart.

Aelita giggled at his theatrics before tell him news he was always glad to receive.

"Jeremie, there are no activated towers on Lyoko; I know that you're scanning for one."

"I know, but I promised the others that I'd run a scan. XANA has been quite for a month, that has us worried. So we figured we'd rather be safe than sorry."

Aelita just smiled at him again, making him lose his thoughts and smile dumbly back at her.

However their moment was broken when his clock beeped, announcing that it was time for his next class.

"Oops, got to go to class. I'll talk to you when I get done for the day. Bye Aelita."

"Goodbye Jeremie," she said as he ran out the door. Once he left, her image disappeared from the screen, leaving only the scanning program open.

* * *

Sitting in their English class, Odd was bored. He was always bored in English, he could speak it pretty well so he really didn't need to be able to write it, at least that was his opinion. Looking over at Jeremie he noticed that the other boy was taking massive amounts of note. Turning to look at Ulrich sitting next to him, he noticed Ulrich was writing something and it wasn't English notes. 

"What are you writing?" Odd whispered to Ulrich who quickly hid the paper.

"Nothing," he answered back, turning his attention to the teacher who was now looking in their direction.

"Come on, let me see," Odd said as he made a grab for the paper.

"Mr. Della Robbia, do you have something to share with the class?" Their teacher asked when he saw Odd's move on Ulrich's paper.

"Uh ... No sir!" Odd answered as he sat straight up, knowing he was caught.

"Then I recommend that you follow the example of your friend Mr. Stern and pay attention to the lesson, there will be a report using this information later in the semester."

"Yes sir," Odd said as he slumped in his seat and crossed his arms before whispering to Ulrich again, "I don't want to read it anyway, it's probably a love poem for Yumi."

_You don't know how wrong you are Odd,_ Ulrich thought as he silently put the paper in his notebook.

* * *

In Jeremie's room the scanner program beeped and displayed a red exclamation point surrounded by a circle, the symbol that meant something was wrong. In the background behind the rotating emblem a tower was flashing in red. XANA had awoken.

* * *

Following their English class the three boys made their way to the park bench they had adopted as theirs. Located near the administration office they had no problems with people sitting there, no one wanted the principal watching them out his window. 

Sitting down with a heavy sigh, Ulrich let his head fall back over the top of the bench, his eyes closed as a soft breeze blew through the trees. Beside him Odd was munching on a bag of chips he got from the nearby vending machine. Jeremie was sitting on Ulrich's left, his arms behind his head as he too enjoyed the warm breeze.

Ulrich's moment of peace was shattered when he heard Yumi call out to them. He knew even without opening his eyes that William would be with her. Ever since they got together William wouldn't let Yumi go anywhere near Ulrich unless he was with her. Seeing Yumi this morning at breakfast without William was a blessing that God decided to grant Ulrich for the first time in almost two years.

"Ulrich, Jeremie, Odd," Yumi called as she walked towards them with William smiling and holding her hand.

"Yumi, William," Odd said through a mouthful of chips. Jeremie only nodded in their direction as he pulled out his laptop and began working on the program that would materialize Aelita into the real world. Ulrich didn't even acknowledge them.

There was an uncomfortable moment of silence that was broken when Ulrich stood up from the bench. He stood there for a few seconds, his eyes on the ground, before he raised them and looked straight at Yumi.

"I've gotta go, I've got homework to do."

With that he left, heading in the direction of the forest rather than the dorms. Yumi could only stare on, her eyes begging him silently to answer why he was acting the way he was.

William glanced down at his watch, noticing the time he gave Yumi a quick kiss on the cheek before running off to pack. He left her with an admonition to do the same.

Yumi, Odd, and Jeremie stayed there in silence, nobody looking at anyone else. Their silence was broken once again, this time by the laptop emitting a warning about an activated tower.

_**You're always there,  
You're in my mind.  
All I see is you,  
But can you see me?**_

* * *

Ulrich knew he had lied about homework, but that little lie wouldn't kill him. Besides they all knew where he was going, the same place he always went. 

Reaching the middle of the forest that skirted the campus he made his way to a tree that looked out over the river and the factory where the supercomputer was hidden. After climbing as high as he could, he stood on the strongest branch he could find. Before him lay the river, the abandoned factory on an island in the middle. Beyond that the setting sun glinted off the glass of the buildings further in town.

He knew it was getting late and that he should head back to school, but there was no reason for him to leave his spot. Yumi would be packing for her trip with William, Odd would be playing a video game, and Jeremie would be trying to finish his program. Ulrich was happy where he was, he could be alone and think.

His solitude was interrupted by his cell phone ringing. Releasing a sigh, he held on to the tree with one hand while fishing the phone out of his pocket with the other.

"Hello?" he spoke into the phone.

"Ulrich, come to the factory. There's an activated tower," Odd spoke on the other end.

"I'm on my way," Ulrich replied as he hung up and slowly began climbing down the tree.

* * *

"Well, that was sure strange," Yumi commented as she, Odd and Ulrich were standing around Jeremie's chair. They had just been rematerialized after their mission ended rather abruptly. Once they had all been virtualized into Lyoko they made their way to where the activated tower was, expecting to find monsters. Instead they found nothing, the tower had deactivated itself and there were no monsters. 

Now they were standing behind Jeremie as he performed a diagnostic of the scanning program, in case the problem lay there.

"XANA has done this before, so it's not totally unexpected."

Yumi only nodded her reply before looking at her watch.

"Oh no! It's after five. I have to run home and pack. I'll see you guys on Monday."

Without waiting for a reply she ran to the elevator and disappeared behind its heavy metal doors. Odd and Jeremie could only look on as she vanished. Ulrich quickly wiped a tear from his eye as their heads turned toward him.

"I'm going back to my room, keep me posted."

With that Ulrich walked to the ladder and began to climb, not wanting to wait for the elevator. He knew that Jeremie and Odd would begin consoling him about Yumi, they always did and he wanted to part in it, not anymore.

_**Beyond the face of friendship,  
A deeper fire burns.  
Since first we met, my heart you've had.  
Though you've gone with him and left me be,  
My heart still beats for you.**_

* * *

The weekend passed in a blur, no more activated towers and nothing to do. 

Monday found the three friends waiting by the bench for Yumi.

"She's late," Odd commented as he glanced at his watch, 15 minutes until school started.

"She'll be here," Jeremie said as he worked on his laptop, not even looking up.

Ulrich didn't say a thing, merely kept staring at the ground.

14 minutes later, she still hadn't arrived.

"I wonder where she could be," Odd said as the trio left the bench and began walking to their class.

"Don't know, but it's not like her to be so late, not unless XANA is involved."

"Hey guys," Yumi's voice called out to them from across the courtyard.

"Yumi!" Odd called back with a wave.

"So, how was your weekend?" Jeremie asked as they walked toward their classes.

"Good," she began, only to stop as she glanced at the depressed Ulrich. In her mind she was playing out all the ways she could break her news to them, none of them ending the way she wanted. Deciding it would be best to just tell them, she did just that.

"William proposed to me."

Ulrich's heart literally stopped beating for several seconds when he heard this. Any thing he may have wanted to say was lost in the open void of his hanging mouth. Ironically, Odd and Jeremie wore the same expression.

Odd was the first to recover.

"Congratulations Yumi."

"Thanks Odd," she replied with a small smile that didn't show in her eyes.

Jeremie was the next to recover, he repeated Odd's congratulations. This only left Ulrich.

Slowly he closed his mouth, his head dropping to meet his chest. Not a sound was heard from him as he stood there. Finally looking up, the others saw that his eyes were empty, no fire burned in them any more. Slowly, as though he were surrounded by thick mud, he moved to hug Yumi just as the others had done.

"Congratulations Yumi," he said as best he could. Silently so that the others couldn't hear him he whispered to her. "I'm happy for you, I really am." _I'll always be happy for you as long as you're happy._

"Thank you Ulrich," she whispered back as she tightened her hug.

"You'll all be at the wedding right?" she asked as she wiped tears from her eyes, releasing the hug, her eyes locked on Ulrich's.

"Of course!" Odd answered.

"When is it?" Jeremie asked.

"We haven't set an exact date yet, but after we graduate."

Her eyes remained locked on Ulrich as she answered, hoping that he would say something, do something, to tell her that he cared about her. She would have said no to William's proposal if only Ulrich had said something.

Ulrich, doing the best he could merely nodded. This seemed to satisfy Yumi as her face broke out in a smile.

"I've got to go to class, I'll tell you more later. Bye guys," with that she ran off to her class. The others made their way to their class as well. The entire time Ulrich didn't look up once, not even when they reached the class and sat down.

_**I love you still,  
As I did then.  
When will this tired game just end?**_

* * *

The day passed by in a blur of light and sound for Ulrich. He was unable to focus on anything that day, even when Yumi was explaining how William had proposed, he couldn't focus. All he could think of was that he had officially lost Yumi forever. 

By the end of the day, Ulrich's depression had fully taken hold.

When the others went to dinner, Ulrich stayed behind. Odd didn't really push him to go, not after Yumi's announcement this morning.

Once the others were gone Ulrich made his way to the park once again. Watching the moonrise from his tree, he took stock of his life as it currently stood.

His grades were slipping; he was almost failing all his classes. He knew as much both from the test and homework grades as well as the phone call from his mother and father, telling him how disappointed they were. They told him to shape up or he was going to a military school back in Germany. He was a breath away from being suspended from the soccer team for his grades, not that he really cared. He'd lost most, if not all of his interest in the game.

Things on Lyoko were going well, but that's only because of XANA's holiday. When he wakes up, Ulrich knows that things will be worse than ever before. His gut instinct was telling him that he was the next target of XANA's attacks. Normally he would focus on Yumi or Jeremie, but he knew he was next.

Yumi, the proverbial final nail in his coffin. Ulrich had loved her seemingly since first sight. All the little things that had happened on Lyoko and in the real world had only made his love stronger. As much as he loved her, he was unable to share his feelings with her. Several times he had tried to tell her in writing, but events always transpired to prevent that. Once he almost told her in person, but then Jeremie called with a XANA alert. Now, with her engagement, he had no way to tell her. If he said anything now, she'd just think he was saying it to keep her away from William and maybe she'd be right, at least partially.

The way he saw it, there was no hope for him, no future with the one he loves, just disappointment and failure.

Watching the lights sparkle off the river he knew what he had to do. There were so many ways to do it; all he had to do was choose the one that would last the longest. But before he did anything, he had some small details to take care of. Tonight everything would work out the best for everyone, tomorrow things would be different.

_**It ends tonight, today, right now!**_

* * *

Looking around his room, Ulrich was proud of how clean his side was. All his belongings were packed away in boxes. Each one with a label stating where it went. 

Taking both shruiken off his wall, he stared at his image in the shiny metal. Looking back at him was a shell of a man. All hope, all life having been drained from his soul. Turning away from the frightening visage, he put the small throwing stars in his pocket.

After cleaning up his belongings, he had several things that he wanted to give to his friends. He didn't need them anymore and he hoped they could use them.

Picking up the box he'd made for Odd, he placed it on his bed, next to the sleeping Kiwi. Giving the little dog a pat, he picked up the other boxes and left the room, closing and locking the door behind him.

* * *

After dropping the boxes off at the rooms of those they went to, he arrived at the door of the last person at Kadic he wanted to give something to. 

Knowing that everyone was still at dinner, he used his lock picking skills to quickly and silently open the door. Moving quickly he placed the small box on the owner's bed. On top of that he places a piece of paper, on it were written the three simple words _I'm Sorry Sissi_.

Leaving her room, he reflected on how he truly was sorry. He was sorry for all the cruel things he'd said to her. Even though she was mean and cruel, she was still a lost girl looking for love. Even if he didn't love her like she loved him, he still could have been a friend.

Taking a small box wrapped in brown paper, he quickly left the dorms and made his way across the courtyard and to the street beyond. He didn't care if anyone saw him, he wasn't going back. Taking a detour through the forest, he stopped for a moment at his tree. He quickly left before the impact of what he'd just done set in.

Making his way quickly to a house he knew so well, he rang the doorbell and waited. He knew Yumi was at the school having dinner with their friends. She always did that on Mondays, it was an established tradition that had continued even with William by her side.

Moments later her mother answered the door, her smile failing a little when she saw Ulrich, she already knew about the engagement and what it must be doing to Ulrich.

"Good evening Mrs. Ishiyama," he stated with a small bow.

"Good evening Ulrich. You know that Yumi isn't here, don't you?" she asked as she returned the bow.

"Yes ma'am, I do. I just wanted you to give her this present when she gets home. And please give her this letter as well; it will explain everything she needs to know."

"Of course dear, she should be home in a few minutes. Why don't you stay and wait for her?"

"I can't, I have somewhere I need to be tonight, but thank you for the invitation." With another small bow he stepped away from the door and walked off into the night.

After closing the door, the feeling that something bad was going to happen became hard to ignore. It was present the entire time she'd been speaking to Ulrich, call it a mother's intuition if you will, but she knew something bad would happen soon. Placing the box on the table beside the door she quickly picked up the phone and called Yumi, telling her to get home right away that something was very wrong.

Not more than five minutes later a very winded Yumi came bursting through the door.

"Mom?" she cried as she looked around for her mother. Seeing her exit the living room she ran up to her.

"What's wrong?" she asked as she gripped her mother's arms, the look of worry on her face made Yumi's heart almost stop.

With out answering her mother pointed to the package on the table.

_**I never told you how I felt,  
The fault alone is mine,  
I always thought you knew.  
Now I know, I can tell,  
You never had a clue.**_

With a confused look, Yumi moved to the package. Her name was written across the top. Tearing into the wrapping she soon had the box open and the contents laid bare. Inside were all the things that she had given Ulrich, all the pictures of the two of them. On the top was the poem he had written her for Valentine's Day. Picking it up she read it over.

_To tell you how much I flip,  
it's not with a tulip.  
How I'm a victim of your charms,  
I long to hold you in my arms.  
With you I never feel gloomy,  
my little Yumi._

Reading the poem brought tears to her eyes. He did care, why hadn't she seen it before? Her tears intensified when she realized that something truly was wrong, he would never give this stuff away, it meant too much to him.

Putting everything back in the box as best she could, her trembling hand reached for the letter. Opening the envelope she removed the letter, unfolding it as quickly as she could. Reading the first line, her breath caught in her throat. She didn't need to read the rest to know what it was, it was a goodbye letter.

She took a deep breath and forced herself to read the rest.

_Yumi,_

_I'm sorry Yumi. I'm Sorry that I won't be able to attend your wedding, as much as I'm sure you want me there, I know William doesn't. Yumi Dunbar, it does roll off the tongue better than Stern doesn't it? It isn't as harsh as my name, you need a gentle name, and it fits your personality better. I know that you will be disappointed by this, but your fiancé will help you through, as will Odd, Jeremie and Aelita. Trust me, its better for everyone this way. As for me, as Jesus said in the Bible, 'Where I am going, you cannot follow.' The box that you opened contains all the memories you and I have together, since I don't need them anymore I figured you'd like them, at least until the wedding. William will probably make you get rid of them once you're married. I must end this letter now, as it is its too long. Be well in the future Yumi, don't dwell on my memory. Live the life you deserve with the one you love._

_All my love,_  
_Ulrich _

Tears falling freely down her face, she sobbed as she clutched the letter to her. What did he mean by its better for everyone? He couldn't leave her; she needed him in her life. She needed him with her forever.

With that thought a realization that had been nagging for years finally broke through, she loved him. She loved Odd, Jeremie and Aelita too, but she knew she loved _him_, not William. What was she doing with William in the first place? She wanted to be with Ulrich. All at once it all came crashing down on her. It had always been there, he never had to show or tell her that he loved her. It had always been present, whenever they spoke, touched, glanced, it was always there. Why hadn't she seen it before? Now, now it may be too late; she could lose him forever because of her stupidity. She now realized that Ulrich had been trying to tell her he loved her for a long time.

Her epiphany was broken when her phone rang. Picking it up as quickly as she could she answered, hoping it was Ulrich.

"Hello?" she almost whispered.

"Yumi," it was Odd, "you need to come back to school right now. Ulrich left a note in our room that you need to read. Hurry before it's too late."

With that Odd hung up, his voice was flat, no emotion whatsoever. Putting her phone in her pocket she ran out the door and back to the school.

_**Others say my love was crystal clear,  
That all who saw it knew.  
I'm sad to say that isn't true,  
The only one that didn't know was you.**_

* * *

Reaching the room that Odd and Ulrich shared, she opened the door and found Odd standing there with Jeremie behind him. A note clutched in his hand. 

"Read this," was all he said as he thrust the paper into Yumi's hand.

_To whoever finds this note,_

_I have lost all hope of a future. I'm failing all my classes, my parents are threatening to take me from the people I care about, and they're going to kick me off the soccer team. But the worst part is, the one I love, loves another. I could be able to handle everything else, except her. She is marrying him, sometime after they graduate at the end of this year. She asked me to be at the wedding, but I won't be. I'll be at home, where it all began. As it says in the Bible; 'from dust we came, to dust we return.' I know this will hurt them all, but without hope, how can I go on? I have given away all that I hold dear; all my possessions have been given to those that deserved them. In each I included a letter making peace with that person. Even though they may not return the sentiment, not after considering what I'm planning, for my mind it is all I can do. My mind is at peace; my heart is gone, broken and swept away. There is nothing left in my soul but a shadow, a void which nothing now can fill. Now comes the end of this little note, I close with one warning; tell those you love that you love them. If you don't you may never have the chance again._

_Ulrich Stern_

"What does he mean, '_from dust we came to dust we return'_?" Yumi asked with fresh tears in her eyes.

"He's going to kill himself, he may have already," Odd said as he stood by the door, unable to look at Yumi.

"What? But he wouldn't, he's stronger than that."

"You read the note, without hope the human mind is capable of anything, even destroying itself," Jeremie replied as he stood and walked to the door.

"We have to find him, we can't let him do this," she said as she struggled to hold back the tears.

"I know," Odd answered, "We'll split up. Yumi, you and Jeremie take the forest, I'll find Jim and get him to help us look."

Without words the three left to stop their friend from killing himself. No one noticed that his throwing starts were missing.

_**It ends today, tonight, right now!**_

* * *

"Ulrich," Yumi yelled as they ran through the forest. They were heading to his favorite tree, hoping he would be somewhere near it. 

"Ulrich," Jeremie said as he followed behind the faster Yumi.

"He has to be there, Jeremie, he has to be. Where else would he go?" She asked as they quickly approached the tree.

Glancing around they found no sign of him, not until Yumi climbed the tree to look for Ulrich. Jeremie found the first sign at the bottom of the tree.

After calling Yumi down, Jeremie pointed to a metal object embedded in the trunk. One of Ulrich's throwing stars was sticking out of the tree, stuck right in the middle of a name. Carved into the tree was a heart surrounding two names, now three. Originally it said Ulrich + Yumi, now Ulrich's name was scratched out and William was carved in, the throwing star was in the middle of Ulrich's name.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Yumi screamed as she pulled the metal star from the tree. She frantically began to scratch over William's name, soon it was unreadable. Quickly she began to carve in Ulrich's name, tears falling as she did. Once she had finished the 'h' she dropped the star to the ground and fell to her knees.

"Where could he be?" she asked the air, not having directed the question to Jeremie. Jeremie looked at the tree for a moment then looked around at the view. The first thing he noticed was the factory, that's when he realized it, Ulrich was going to throw himself into the digital sea and be lost forever.

"Yumi! Get up, I know where he is!" Jeremie said as he pulled her to her feet and pointed toward the factory. Realization dawned on her as her mind made the same connections his had.

Without a word she took off at a run, leaving Jeremie behind.

_**I tell you dear, my love is true,  
I only feel for you.  
So take my heart, my hope, my life,  
My fate is in your hands.**_

* * *

Taking the ladder down to the super computer, Yumi was surprised to see that not only was Ulrich not virtualized into Lyoko, his scanner was inactive, but there was a tower activated in the Desert region, on the other side of Lyoko from where they were earlier. 

"Aelita," Yumi said as she placed Jeremie's earpiece on her head.

"Yumi, I've been trying to contact you for so long."

"I know, there's an activated tower."

"No, that's not the problem, its Ulrich. He opened a connection to me and told me goodbye. He said that he would miss me. I asked him where he was going and he only gave a weak smile before saying 'dust to dust, ashes to ashes Aelita'. Yumi I'm so worried."

"He didn't virtualize himself, did he?"

"No," she replied.

"Aelita, I'll be back. He's somewhere in the factory, I have to find him. He's going to kill himself."

Before Aelita could reply, Yumi had left, grabbing her phone to call Odd as she did.

"Odd, we need to search the factory. Ulrich is somewhere inside."

"Got it, Jim and the other teachers are on their way."

"Good, hurry Odd."

"I will."

They hung up; in her haste to find Ulrich she missed the small countdown timer showing the delay until virtualization.

* * *

Meeting the others at the factory entrance, Yumi quickly explained how Ulrich was somewhere inside and planned on killing himself. After that teams of two split up to look for him. Jeremie and Yumi decided to check the section of the factory near the supercomputer, just to make sure no one discovered it during their searching. 

As they were beginning to search, a beeping came from Jeremie's laptop. Stopping to remove it, he turned it on and was startled when Aelita almost jumped off the screen.

"Jeremie!" She said in relief. "Jeremie, there's something strange with the supercomputer."

"Strange? How do you mean?" He asked as he leaned against the wall and supported the computer on his knee.

"There's a countdown timer. I don't know what it's counting down, but Ulrich activated it after speaking to me."

"Why didn't you mention this earlier?" Yumi asked in anger as she grabbed the microphone and spoke into it, having heard the conversation through the laptop's speakers.

"I tried, but you left before I could say anything."

"We'd better go have a look," Jeremie said as he thanked Aelita and closed the laptop.

Taking the ladder to not rouse suspicions, they soon arrived in the control room. Sure enough there was a small window showing a countdown. Jeremie took his seat at the terminal and began typing.

"What are you doing?" Yumi asked as she watched his fingers fly across the keys.

"Trying to find out what this countdown is for. There, got it! It's a timed countdown for the scanners, or should I say Ulrich's scanner. I'll bet that's where he is."

He turned to tell Yumi to go check but quickly realized she was already gone, having left at the word scanner.

Taking the elevator this time, she rushed in and prayed that she wasn't too late.

After what seemed to be an eternity, the door opened to reveal the huge cylinders they called scanners. Running in she looked to where Ulrich's scanner was. There in the scanner, lying in a pool of blood was Ulrich, his wrists had been slit. The shruiken he'd used lying beside him.

"Ulrich!" she sobbed as she rushed to him, he appeared to be unconscious.

Grabbing him and pulling him to her, she tried to stop the bleeding. Knowing that she needed help she called out to the communications system.

"Jeremie, I found him, he slit his wrists and he needs help."

"Odd and Jim are on their way, stay calm Yumi."

She didn't reply, she only turned back to Ulrich as she clutched him to her.

"Ulrich, you can't die. Please don't leave me, I need you," she sobbed into his shirt, her tears soaking into the material.

"You … don't … need … me," Ulrich said weakly as he struggled to open his eyes, having opened his eyes at her voice.

"Yes, yes I do. I can't imagine my life without you in it," she cried as the blood continued to slowly flow from his veins.

"You … have… William… now," he wheezed.

"No, it was all a mistake, I don't love him. I thought I did, but I realized that I love you, and only you."

"Too… late… now…" he said as he turned his head from her, feeling the darkness closing in on him, he decided to admit his feelings before he lost the chance.

"Yumi… I… love… you," he said even as his eyes closed and he slipped into unconsciousness once again.

"No, no, no, no, no," she sobbed as she rocked him, the sound of the elevator descending and opening not registering through her pain.

She resisted when she felt arms on her, trying to take him. Soon she realized that it was Odd and Jim. Reluctantly she released him and Jim picked him up and ran to the elevator, Odd and Yumi following. Not once did Jim mention the equipment, his concern for Ulrich was that great.

* * *

Arriving at the hospital, Ulrich was rushed into surgery leaving Yumi and Odd to wait. 

Not more than 10 minutes after arriving, Yumi's cell phone rang.

"Hello?" she said as the tears continued to roll down her face.

"Yumi, there is an activated tower," Jeremie's voice spoke from the other end.

"I know, but I can't leave him."

"Its best that you do, this tower may explain a few things. Once its deactivated I can activate a return to the past."

"You can? You mean he might not die then?"

"Yes, but only if you and Odd help Aelita deactivate the tower."

"We're on our way," she said with a renewed sense of hope as she and Odd ran from the waiting room.

* * *

"This is it," Aelita said as she pointed to the tower. They were hiding behind a sand dune as a few Crabs guarded the tower. 

"Let me handle it," Yumi said as she stepped out from their hiding spot, her fans extended and ready to fight, anger and hope warring in her eyes.

"Yumi…" before Odd could finish she was gone, her fans flying in all directions as she attacked the monsters.

Seeing that the crabs were otherwise busy, Odd grabbed Aelita's hand and ran toward the tower.

They made it half way before one of the remaining crabs noticed them, turning its lasers to fire. Noticing this, Odd practically threw Aelita toward the tower, cutting her trip in half even as the beam knocked him away from her.

Not needing to be told to run, Aelita did just that, reaching the tower while Odd dealt with the crab that shot him.

* * *

"He's not stabilizing. Get those wounds closed, his blood pressure is dropping!" A doctor yelled as he worked on Ulrich. 

"We're losing him doctor," a nurse said as she monitored his vital signs.

"No! I'm not losing this kid!" he replied as he worked even harder. He only looked up when the heart monitor began to flat line.

* * *

Aelita walked onto the platform that would take her to the upper level of the tower and the terminal located there. Slowly she was levitated to the platform above. Placing her hand on the screen it displayed her name, next the word CODE: appeared.

* * *

"Get the paddles, crash him! Now!" the doctor said even as he reached for the paddles. 

"Charging," a nurse said as he stood ready.

"Charged," she shouted a few seconds later.

"Clear," the doctor yelled even as everyone removed their hands from Ulrich. He applied the paddled to his chest and pulled the trigger. Ulrich's body jumped, but showed no other sign. The heart monitor continued to flat line.

"Doctor, you need to call it," a nurse said even as he readied the paddles again.

* * *

CODE: LYOKO 

"Tower deactivated," Aelita said as the data boxes scrolling on the walls behind her fell away.

"Return to the past now," Jeremie said as he pressed the button to activate the time bubble which rose from the supercomputer and began to envelop the entire city.

* * *

Briiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnggg! 

The alarm woke Ulrich from his fitful sleep; the sound of Odd's snoring reassured him that he truly was awake. Glancing at the clock he read the date.

Ulrich sat up with a start, it was Friday again and he was alive. Looking at his wrists he noticed the skin was unbroken, no scar or anything.

Rising he quickly dressed and left the room. He knew that there would be questions from his friends, questions that he didn't want to answer, the main one being 'why'.

Entering the forest he quickly found and climbed his tree. Looking to the east he waited for the sun to rise. Soon the golden tendrils began to creep across the sky, lighting the world in muted tones of gold and yellow.

"Hi," a voice from below said, startling him. Looking down he saw Yumi looking up at him.

"Yumi," he said in a monotone.

"Can you come down, we need to talk," she asked as she put her hands on her hips. He knew this meant trouble.

Not answering her, he simply climbed down until he was several feet above the ground. Letting go of the tree he fell toward the ground, turning at the last minute to land on his feet.

Yumi slapped his shoulder once he'd straightened up.

"Don't do that, I almost lost you once, I couldn't bear to have it happen again."

"Sorry," he said with no sign of sincerity. "So, how'd you know to find me here?"

"I figured after what just happened that you'd need some time alone to think and you always come here to think."

"Well, you were right, so now what? Going to keep an eye on my so I don't do it again?"

"I don't know, are you going to do it again?"

His only answer was a shrug, his hands in his pockets.

"Shouldn't you be going to the cafeteria with the others?" He asked when he noticed what time it was.

"Not unless you're going with me."

"Sorry, I'm not hungry," he replied as he began walking back to campus.

"Ulrich," she called. He stopped but didn't turn around.

"Ulrich," she said again as she approached his back. "I remember what you said when you were in the scanner, did you meant it. When you said you loved me?"

"Does it matter anymore?" he asked as he slowly turned to face her. "You're still dating William and this weekend he's still going to propose, nothing's changing that. So I ask again, does it matter if I love you, since it appears that you love someone else."

"Ulrich, it matters to me."

He turned his back to her once again, taking a deep breath before answering.

"No Yumi, not anymore. I've bled for you Yumi, but all you've ever seen me as is a friend. I've tried so many times to tell you, even when you weren't going to be engaged and were just dating. I was never able to say a thing. What happened in the scanner was a mistake, I didn't mean it and I know you didn't either. Maybe its better this way and maybe you should have let me die."

Neither could find a word to say following his little speech.

"I'm going to take a walk, go back to the school Yumi, you don't belong here."

With that he walked away from, not stopping even when she called his name.

Yumi turned to the tree he'd been standing in, the sun rising behind it. Suddenly she remembered the carving, racing to where she'd seen it, she was relieved to note that it still said Ulrich + Yumi.

It was at that moment, as she ran her hand over the worn letters that she came to a realization. She would go through with the trip to William's, just as before. Nothing was going to change what happened, after that even if Ulrich rejected the outcome, she would see it through.

* * *

Monday came once again, the weekend had passed with no tower on Friday, and no Ulrich at all. Neither Jeremie nor Odd had seen him once during the weekend. Yumi had gone to William's, and the gang braced for the announcement they knew would be coming. 

Monday morning found Odd and Jeremie waiting by the bench, Ulrich once again missing. Yumi came running up to them, just as she had in the other past.

"Where's Ulrich?" she asked, a smile gracing her lips.

"Don't know," Odd said with a shrug, "he hasn't slept in his bed once all weekend."

"Don't worry, he hasn't tried to kill himself, he would have given his stuff away again. Ulrich is predictable like that; he'd follow that routine again." Jeremie replied to her worried look.

"Well, I have good news," Yumi said as her grin got even bigger.

"Let me guess," Odd began, "William proposed again?"

"Nope, the news is better than that."

"Better? How?" Jeremie asked.

"I'll tell you," Yumi replied.

* * *

Ulrich stared down at the river; standing on the factory roof he had a clear view of the city. After running into Yumi on Friday he had grabbed a sleeping bag and camped at the factory. 

Now he stood staring at the Kadic clock tower. Yumi must have told the others about the engagement again. Now they would be heading to the cafeteria for breakfast.

"Hello stranger," Yumi called from behind him.

"How'd you know I was here?" he asked as he turned to look at her, he'd been saying that a lot lately.

"Easy, your sleeping bag was gone, and since this is where you came to kill yourself, I figured it's where you'd go when you ran away."

"So, he proposed again," he said after letting her fight back the sobs that remembering his attempted suicide brought.

"No, he didn't."

"What?" he asked in confusion.

"Ulrich, I figured it all out. The tower that deactivated itself was a decoy; XANA activated two towers at the same time. The scan only picked up the first. The second tower, he used to possess William. It was all a trick to get you to kill yourself, XANA figured that if you couldn't have me then you'd try and kill yourself. He possessed William and made him propose. He wanted to take us down one by one, beginning with you."

"Guess XANA knows me pretty well," Ulrich replied with a sigh. "I walked right into his trap."

"You weren't the only one Ulrich."

They were both silent as they stood looking at each other, the wind blowing past them.

"Ulrich," she said as she moved closer, "I broke up with William."

He didn't answer, just continued to stare past her.

"I realized I didn't love him like I thought I did."

"…"

"Ulrich?"

"…"

"Please, say something."

"What do you want me to say Yumi? Do you want me to be happy that you two broke up? Well I am! You deserved better than him, he could never give you what you need."

"Well, you're right Ulrich, he couldn't. But I have found someone who can. He loves me just as much as I love him, at least I hope he does."

Ulrich closed his eyes as the tears he'd held for so long threatened to fall.

"Ulrich," she asked, touching his shoulder to get his attention.

"Go back to school Yumi," he said as his chin met his chest.

"What? Why?" she asked in surprise. "I thought you'd want to hear the good news about William and I."

"You'll forgive me if I don't begin dancing," he said as he stared out over the forest, "but I've had enough _good news_ as you call it, to last me for a long time."

"But…"

"Just go back to school, the others will be worried about you," he said without turning, his eyes now closed against the tears.

With a sigh she turned and began walking to the roof access door.

She stopped when a soft voice called out to her.

"Who is it Yumi?" he asked in a voice barely above a whisper. _Might as well get this over with_. "Who is it that you love?"

Silently he stood, waiting for the devastating news of her new loves identity. He knew beyond any doubt that he wouldn't be happy with his name, if it even was a guy.

"You," she answered in a soft voice, a tremble evident at the end.

His eyes snapped open at this and he spun around to face her.

"What?" he asked as she quickly approached him.

"I said it's you Ulrich. I love you."

"But Yumi, how could you? I can't give you what you need, I'm no better than William."

"Yes you are!" she said as she pulled him into a hug. "It took your near death and you saying that you don't love me for me to realize it, so don't you ever say we don't deserve each other."

"But, why me?"

"Why not? You love me don't you?" she didn't even wait for his answer. You're a great guy, a good person, any girl would be lucky to have you as a friend. I'm just lucky to have you as more."

"More?" he asked with a slight blush.

"Well," she said as she pulled away, blushing as much as he was. "I was hoping that you'd be my boyfriend."

"Me, you, boyfriend," Ulrich was having a hard time processing this information. With a grin Yumi decided to send him into another spin. Wrapping her arms around him she pressed her lips to his even as he struggled to make coherent thought. But that all stopped when their lips touched and he began kissing her back.

After several minutes they broke apart.

"So, is that a yes?" Yumi asked with a smile.

Ulrich only answered by picking her up and swinging her around.

"Of course," he answered after he set her down.

"Good," she said as he leaned in and kissed him again.

_**It ends tonight, today, right now!  
It all ends here tonight.**_

The End.


End file.
